LC's Tree: Virgin and Child

"The Virgin Mary...heard the angel out, pondered the repercussions, and replied, 'I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said.' Often the work of God comes with two edges, great joy and great pain, and in that matter-of-fact response Mary embraced both. She was the first person to accept Jesus on his own terms, regardless of the personal cost." -- Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, excerpted in Watch For the Light: Readings For Advent and Christmas, Plough Publishing House